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This is an open collection created by the University Archives from various sources.
[Identification of item], University Archives Photograph Collection, 4-H Youth Development Photographs, UA 023.008, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
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This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
The idea of 4-H began in the 1890s when one-acre corn contests for boys were organized in several states. In 1907, the first modern 4-H program began in Mississippi when the Mississippi State College of Agriculture sponsored 120 boys in a corn contest. This was the first cooperative effort between youth and university, and led to the 4-H youth program's important role in the nationwide land-grant college Extension program.
The beginnings of North Carolina 4-H go back to a 1909 Hertford County Corn Club. North Carolina became the first state to sign an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture to sponsor Boys' Club work, and by 1910, there were some 4,000 boys involved. Girls' Clubs, based on tomato production, quickly followed. Canning foods was also a major learning activity for the girls.
The passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914 opened up the work of Extension greatly. The 4-H program took off, and the first annual statewide club meeting in Raleigh, called the Short Course, was held.
L. R. Harrill, North Carolina's first county 4-H agent, was appointed in Buncombe County in 1922. In 1926, he became North Carolina's first State 4-H Club Leader. By 1929, he had incorporated the Boys' and Girls' clubs under one banner and worked hard to bring more programs into effect, get more counties involved, and improve 4-H activities and facilities. By 1939, all 100 counties had 4-H programs. By the 1950s, North Carolina had more 4-H members than any other state in the country.
For several decades, North Carolina 4-H worked in conjunction with the public school systems. Major changes came in the 1960s when strong community sponsoring bases replaced the role of the local schools. What traditionally had been a program for rural youth expanded to offer the same opportunities to urban youth, thereby reaching out to a larger number of children statewide.
For more information about 4-H in North Carolina, please see the
Chiefly black-and-white
The collection includes
Some photographs from this collection originally appeared in
In May 2006, 597
The collection is organized by format: photographic prints, negatives, and slides. Arrangement is by University Archives Photograph Collection subject classification, listed in the detailed description below.
University Archives Photograph Collection, 4-H Youth Development Photographs, 1911-1995
Includes both negatives corresponding to various photographic prints in the collection and some negatives without corresponding prints.
Includes both negatives corresponding to various photographic prints in the collection and some negatives without corresponding prints.
Includes both negatives corresponding to various photographic prints in the collection and some negatives without corresponding prints.
Includes both negatives corresponding to various photographic prints in the collection and some negatives without corresponding prints.
Includes slides related to various 4-H events.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of 4-H administration and staff.
Primarily contains posed portraits of L.R. Harrill, as well as group portraits in which Harrill is the primary focus. Also contains a reproduction of a charcoal sketch of L.R. Harrill.
Primarily contains posed portraits of L.R. Harrill, as well as group portraits in which Harrill is the primary focus.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of 4-H leaders participating in various club activities and meetings.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities, including State Extension Service specialists and county agents.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of 4-H Council Officers.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities. Includes depictions of 4-H Development Fund and Report to State.
Contains slides showing 4-H club activities.
A scrapbook that contains photos of 4-H exhibits on agricultural and home demonstration topics.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities, including picnics, demonstration work, cooking, and other projects.
Primarily contains posed portraits and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities in and around club facilities, including picnics, demonstration work, cooking and other projects. Of special note is the construction and opening of The Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center and an aerial view of the facility. Included in the contact sheets are images of the neighboring Chinqua- Penn Plantation.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities before the 1965 integration. Includes depictions of picnics, demonstration work, projects, song contests, swimming, corn growing, dairy day, and wildlife conference. Of special note is a photographic print of Herman Peebles, the Wake County State Prize Winner, published in Clover All Over.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in demonstration work at the North Carolina State Fair, as well as botanical illustrations.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of Honor Club members participating in various club activities, including inductions, picnics, and swimming.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of Young Men and Women members participating in various club activities, including inductions, picnics, and swimming.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of collegiate 4-H Clubs.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of 4-H alumni.
Primarily contains images of the Clover Leaves publication and a 1958 4-H calendar.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at various camps throughout North Carolina. The pictures in this box are considered "general,†meaning they could not be identified with a specific camp. Several of the photographs are from either Camp Millstone or Camp Swannanoa, although it is unclear which.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at various camps throughout North Carolina. The pictures in this box are considered “general,†meaning they could not be identified with a specific camp. Several of the slides may be from Camp Millstone.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at various camps throughout North Carolina, including the Anita-Alta Outpost Camp, Ball’s Creek, Bertie County Encampment, Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center, Buncombe County Encampment, Carteret County Encampment, Davidson-Rowan 4-H Camp, Davidson-Iredell 4-H Club Encampment, Durham County 4-H Camp, Forestry Camp, Forsyth County Camp, and Hicone (Guilford-Rockingham) 4-H Camp.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at various camps throughout North Carolina, including Indian Springs Conservation Camp, John’s River Camp, Camp Seaman A. Knapp, Lake Waccamaw, Camp Leach, Lincoln County Encampment, Mitchell 4-H Camp, Neuse Forest 4-H Camp, and Polk County 4-H Club Camp. Includes photographs of L. R. Harrill and I. O. Schaub at Lake Waccamaw, late 1920s or early 1930s. Also includes 1 photograph from Clover All Over.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at the Manteo/Roanoke Island 4-H Camps and surrounding attractions. Includes 12 photographs of the 1947 fire at the Lost Colony Theater and 2 photographs of L. R. Harrill speaking at the Manteo Camp in 1951.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at the Manteo/Roanoke Island 4-H Camps and surrounding attractions, including the Lost Colony, the beach, the Wright Brothers Memorial, and the Tyrrell County-Albemarle Sound. Includes 1 photograph from Clover All Over.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at Camp Schaub and White Lake 4-H Camp. Includes 2 group photographs with L. R. Harrill at Camp Schaub in 1949. Also includes 1 photograph from Clover All Over, 1 letter from Frank Parker to R. W. Shoffner, 10 September 1949, and 1 letter from R. W. Shoffner to L. R. Harrill, 19 September 1949.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at Millstone 4-H Camp. Includes 1 photograph exhibited in The Rotarian’s 1942 photo contest. Also includes 2 photographs from Clover All Over, 1 letter from Charles W. Ziegler to L. R. Harrill, 27 March 1944, and 1 letter from Charles W. Ziegler to L. R. Harrill, 14 May 1946.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at Millstone 4-H Camp, including camp Instructors Training School, Model Farm Shop and Wildlife Camp. Includes 2 photographs from James W. Clark Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at Millstone 4-H Camp.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at Millstone 4-H Camp.
Contains shots from Camp Millstone.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at Swannanoa 4-H Camp, including the 1941 Wildlife Conference. Includes 3 photographs from Clover All Over.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at the first National 4-H Camp, as well as attractions throughout Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia. Includes several photographs of L. R. Harrill, 1 photograph from Memories of 4-H and 1 photograph from Clover All Over.
Contains posed and candid shots of 4-H club members at the National 4-H Club Camp (becomes National Conference in 1957), as well as attractions throughout Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia, and Beltsville, Md. Includes several photographs of L. R. Harrill, 2 photographs of 4-H members standing with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1 photograph of 4-H members standing with President Jimmy Carter, and 3 photographs from Clover All Over. Also contains 1 letter from B. P. Hess to L. R. Harrill, 11 July 1941, and 1 letter from L. R. Harrill to B. P. Hess, 15 July 1941.
Oversize (rolled) group portraits of club members.
Contains posed, candid and group portraits of agents, specialists, and club members, participating in demonstrations and other various activities, including dinner functions and activities relating to North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.
Contains posed, candid, and group portraits of agents, specialists, and club-members, performing demonstrations and other various activities including service award presentations at recognition banquets.
Contains two posed group portraits of the Annual 4-H Song Contest State Champions.
Oversize photograph (rolled) of War Service Award given by the Columbia Broadcasting System to 4-H Clubs of America for the Youth on Parade broadcast, February 13, 1943. Rolled negatives of Millstone, Manteo, and unknown.
Contains posed, candid and group portraits of agents, specialists, and club members, performing demonstrations and other various activities including tree planting ceremonies, mortgage burning ceremonies, flag ceremonies, the dedication honoring Mrs. Jefferson Penn of the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center, and the L.R. Harrill dedication ceremony at N.C. State University Special Collections Center. Some photographs also depict guest speakers at meetings.
A scrapbook that contains photos of the dedication of the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center, including photos of Betsy Penn.
Contains posed, candid, and group portraits of agents, specialists, and club-members, performing demonstrations and other various activities including service award presentations at recognition banquets.
A scrapbook that contains photos from the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the 4-H Development Fund, Inc. at the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center. Includes photos of Betsy Penn as well as leaders of North Carolina State University and the Cooperative Extension Service.
Contains posed and group portraits of 4-H Congress North Carolina Delegations and National Winners.
Contains posed and group portraits of 4-H Congress North Carolina Delegations and National Winners.
Contains posed and group portraits of 4-H Congress North Carolina Delegations and National Winners participating in activities related to National 4-H Club Week, including banquets, demonstrations, and bus and train transportation. Also contains group portraits of state delegations and National Winners in categories such as canning and sewing.
Contains posed and group portraits of 4-H Congress North Carolina Delegations and National Winners participating in activities related to National 4-H Club Week, including banquets, airplane transportation, demonstrations, and delegates meeting and making a presentation to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Also contains group portraits of National Winners in categories such as clothing and field crops. Of special note are photographs of Vice-President Richard M. Nixon in 1960 and President Nixon in 1973.
Contains posed and group portraits of 4-H Congress North Carolina Delegations and National Winners participating in activities related to National 4-H Club Week, including banquets, demonstrations, and bus and train transportation. Also contains group portraits of state delegations and National Winners in categories such as canning and sewing.
Oversize (rolled) group portraits of club members.
Oversize (rolled) group portraits of club members.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Short Course, the original name for Club Week.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Short Course, the original name for Club Week. Some photographs contain L. R. Harrill, Dean Schaub and North Carolina Governor Clyde R. Hoey.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Short Course and Club Week.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Club Week.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Club Week.
Primarily contains primarily posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Club Week.
Primarily contains primarily posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Club Week.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to North Carolina State Short Course, the original name for Club Week. Also includes slides showing 4-H and State leaders.
Primarily contains primarily posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to National 4-H Club Week, including flying the 4-H Flag at the State Capital.
Primarily contains primarily posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to World War II (war work), including victory gardens and dedications to two ships named after North Carolina 4-H members for contributions made toward the war effort.
Contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to demonstration work.
Contains portraits and group portraits of winners participating in various 4-H activities, including one image of L.R. Harrill giving a scholarship check to a winner.
Contains portraits and group portraits of winners participating in various 4-H activities.
Contains photographs and snapshots of various 4-H exhibitions and displays for the purpose of demonstrating 4-H activities.
Contains slides of 4-H exhibitions and displays demonstrating 4-H activities in various counties of North Carolina.
Contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to site-seeing tours.
Contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to organized recreation such as dancing and games.
Contains photographs and snapshots, posed portraits and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities as collected in county scrapbooks and relating to county records.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to cattle, including 4-H Calf Club, North Carolina State Fair, 4-H Calf Show, and Dairy Demonstration. Includes 3 photographs by L. R. Harrill published in the News and Observer 24 October 1935 and 2 photographs by L. R. Harrill published in the News and Observer 28 October 1935. Also includes 1 photograph from L. R. Harrill’s memories of 4-H and 3 photographs from James W. Clark Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to cattle, including 4-H Calf Club, North Carolina State Fair, 4-H Calf Show, and Dairy Demonstration. Includes 1 photograph from L. R. Harrill’s memories of 4-H.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to cattle, including 4-H Calf Club, North Carolina State Fair, 4-H Calf Show, Stock Sale, Dairy Judging and Dairy Demonstration. Includes 1 photograph from James W. Clark, Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to poultry, including 4-H Poultry Club, North Carolina State Fair, 4-H Poultry Show and Sale, Pullet Chain, Poultry Judging Team, Poultry Demonstration, and Poultry Cooking Contest. Includes 1 photograph from James W. Clark, Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to horses, sheep, swine, snakes, bees, dogs, and rabbits, including 4-H Horse Project, North Carolina State Fair, 4-H Club Week Demonstration, National 4-H Week, Pig/Swine Project, Fat Stocks Show, Beekeeping Demonstration, and Dog Care and Training Project. Includes 1 photograph of L. R. Harrill from 1962, 1 photograph from L. R. Harrill’s Memories of 4-H and 1 photograph from James W. Clark, Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains portraits of demonstration winners in agriculture, beekeeping, beef, beef production, dairy, dairy achievement, dairy herd management, dairy production, dog care and training, grain marketing, horse, livestock conservation, livestock judging, meat animal, poultry, poultry production, poultry marketing, sheep, sheep shearing, swine, and veterinary science.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at exhibits relating to corn, nitrates, farm forage, livestock feed, and vegetables, as well as various other events relating to strawberries, cotton, grain, peaches, tobacco, gardening, and gourds, including State Corn Club Show, North Carolina State Fair, District Contest Day, 4-H Demonstration, N.C. Crops Improvement Association, Strawberry Shows, 4-H Exhibits, Curb Market, Vegetable Market, Grain Marketing, Cotton School, Orchard Works, and Garden Project. Of special note is a photograph of Ralph Mills picking cotton, printed in the News and Observer, 27 October 1941 and James W. Clark, Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at demonstration competitions relating to legumes, alfalfa, feed sacks, silage, pasture improvement, pasture seeding, forage, Bermuda grass, pasture grasses, cotton, earworm control, grain production, and overhead arbors, including 4-H Club Week Demonstration and State Demonstration Competition.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members in various activities relating to peanuts, harvesting, corn, the Tew Family Farm, and vegetable judging, including Peanut Project, 4-H Corn Club, Corn Show, and 4-H Club Week. Of special note is a photograph of L. R. Harrill holding a mutated tomato, undated.
Contains portraits of North Carolina demonstration winners in agriculture, commercial vegetables, corn, corn meal, cotton, field crops, field crop science, forage crops, garden, grain marketing, horticulture, peanuts, peanut production, tobacco, vegetable and fruit marketing, vegetable judging, and vegetable production.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina home demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to wildlife, forestry, and conservation, including 4-H Wildlife Project, North Carolina State Fair, District Contest Day, 4-H Demonstration, N.C. Wildlife Federation Award Program, Forestry Demonstration, and Demonstration Winners in Conservation, Conservation of Natural Resources, Forestry, Forestry Scholarship, Soil and Water, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation .
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to science and technology, including Better Methods Electric Congress, State 4-H Electric Congress, Farm and Home Electric, Electric Workshop, N.C. State Fair, VEPCO, Electric Demonstration, Entomology Demonstration, Automotive Program, Small Engines Project, and Astronomy Demonstration.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina demonstration agents, specialists, and club members; also, some posed and candid shots of club members at various events relating to tractors, including Tractor School, Tractor Program, Tractor Contest, 4-H Club Week, and Tractor Exhibit. Includes one photograph from James W. Clark, Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains portraits and group portraits of North Carolina demonstration winner relating to science and technology, including Electric Demonstration, Entomology Demonstration, Tractor Demonstration, Tractor Maintenance Demonstration, Petroleum Power Demonstration, and Automotive Demonstration.
Primarily contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in Dress-Revues. Included are two candid photographs of backstage action and one photograph of a young man in a 1970s Fashion Revue. Of special note is a series of photographs of the 1937 First Place Statewide winner (Ada Braswell, Anson County), taken by L.R.Harrill, one of which was published in James W. Clark, Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Contains portraits and one group portrait of winners of various titles within the Home economics sub-group.
Contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various group and individual club projects.
Contains posed, candid, and group portraits of agents, specialists, and club members (children and adults) participating in food preparation, canning, sewing demonstrations, and other various activities. Food preparation photographs focus on baking demonstrations and the theme “June is Dairy Month.†Canning photographs primarily depict the finished product rather than the process. The sewing images show club members at various types of sewing machines, from the loom to the modern machine. Of special note are two photographic prints published in James W. Clark, Jr.’s Clover All Over. The first depicts “Agents in training to can tomatoes and green beans,†1911. The second shows a blanket, and four of the women who “stitched it,†that was sent to a military hospital in Great Britain during World War II.
Contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to health and safety, including Kings and Queens of Health and Crime Watch winners.
Contains posed and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities relating to health and safety. Of special note is one photographic print of North Carolina’s first King and Queen of Health, 1929, published in James W. Clark Jr.’s Clover All Over.
Primarily contains posed portraits and group portraits of club members participating in various club activities. Of special note is one autographed photograph of Senator Terry Sanford with the 1989 Citizenship Washington Focus North Carolina Delegation.
Contains posed portraits and group portraits of club members and contest winners participating in the performing arts, including music, talent contests, dancing, ventriloquism, contortionism, photo exhibitions, public speaking. Of special note is one photographic print of four young boys in costume, published in L. R. Harrill’s Memories of 4-H.
Primarily contains posed portraits and group portraits of club members participating in personal development, as well as portraits of winners of leadership, achievement, recreation.
Contains posed portraits and group portraits of club members and contest winners participating in the performing arts, including music, talent contests, dancing, ventriloquism, contortionism, photo exhibitions, public speaking.